1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an operation management system and an operation management method, and more particularly to software operation management or execution management.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers and computer use become more common, more advanced technology is introduced and a variety of software products are developed for use in various fields. However, in many cases, the user finds it difficult to select a product from among a variety of software products that seem to meet the user's requirements; often, the user cannot find the best tool for his needs.
To reduce such a risk, a service has been available that supplies the user with a trial-use software product free of charge. However, most of these trial-use software products contain only function descriptions or provide the user with limited functions (e.g., save function and/or output function is/are not included). This makes it difficult for the user to evaluate the actual product (all the functions) correctly.
A sales system which charges the user according to how long the user actually uses a software product (including a trial use) would allow him to buy the product anytime he wants, to fully evaluate the product, and to precisely determine the requirements for continued use (including payment for it). Many users would find this type of sales system appealing and economical.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 59-41061 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 63-153633, a system is disclosed that automatically prevents a program from being used when the usage count reaches a specified value. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 1-147622 a system is disclosed which accumulates program execution time (total program execution time) and prevents the program from being used when the accumulation time reaches a specified amount. However, these systems do not disclose means for extending the program usage period. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-134949 discloses a system in which a program and expiry of the program are downloaded from a host computer to a user computer via a communication line. Also disclosed is a system in which a new expiry of the program is downloaded from the host computer to the user computer in order to update the expiry. However, the system only measures the execution time taken for executing the entire program, and does not include any means for changing the expiry on the user computer.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-234785, a system is disclosed that relates to a software rental system. This system connects a computer in a rental company to a user computer on which a rental software product is running over a communication line. When the time elapsed from the rental start time reaches the rental limit time, the system makes the program unavailable for use. (For example, the program is deleted.) To allow the user to update the rental period, the rental company sends a rental period extension program to the user's computer over a communication line. The user runs this program to extend the rental period of the program. A drawback of this system is that the user must pay for the software product regardless of whether the user has used it frequently or not. This means that the amount of money the user has to pay depends, not on how often he has used it, but on how long he has used it.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-244585, a system is disclosed that manages the program usage period. This system assigns a usage limit date to a program and, when the current date becomes greater than the limit date, the program product is made unavailable. To extend the usage limit date, the system reads update limit data from a recording medium containing that data and re-assigns a usage limit date based on the update limit data. This system is not reasonable because the amount of money the user has to pay does not depend on whether or not the user actually uses the program.
For example, during execution of a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software product, the user often spends much time thinking without entering data. In the system disclosed by the above mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-234785 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-244585, the user must pay for this thinking time. This places unwanted pressure on the user, especially when he must think carefully during program execution.